Timer



May 22, 1923. I 1,456,485

J. E. HIGBY TIMER 1 Filed Sept; 6, 1919 f/mwzzar 164 M a 7 I WWW fll larm yci Patented May 22, 1923.

:rnssn EDWIN v HIGBY, or writrrnia, KANSAS;

TIMER- f Application filed September 6, 1 9519. Serial Nd, 322,033. 1 i

To all whom amay concern:

Be it known that 1,.lnssn E. HIGBY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Whiting, in the county of Jackson and State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in a Timer, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. My invention relates to timers for inter nal combustion engines, and it consists in the combinations, constructions and arrange ments herein described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a timer which may be used for engines, such as that on the Ford automobile, but which is provided with means for protecting the timer wires, so that there is no danger of.

causing a short circuit. A further ob ect of providea timer havlng a rolling contact member which is arranged to engage stationary contacts locatedin a vertical plane, thus facilitating the removal of dirt and grease, which will work off the contacts during theoperation of the device.

A further object of my invention is to.

provide a timer which is simple in construc-v tion, has few parts, and is not liable to easily get out of order. 1

Other objects and advantages will appear. in the following specification, and the novel features of the invention will be part1cu-I larly pointed out in the appended claim.

My invention is as illustrated in the ac companying drawings,'forming part of this application, in which Figure 1 1s a vertical section through the timer, certain parts being shown in eleva- 'tion,

Figure 2 is a section along the line 2-,2, looking in the direction of the arrows,

Figure 3 is a section along the line 33, looking in the direction of the arrows,*and

Figure 4c is a fragmentary section along the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a contact roller lwhich is a section of a cone. This rolleris preferably made of hard steel and is rovided with a lug or arm 2 which fits in etween outwardly turned ends 3 of 1 a clamping sleeve 4, arranged to surround a cam shaft 5.

The sleeve tis held rigidly to the shaft 5 by means of a pin 5 which passes through the cam shaft 5 and which is arranged to enter a notch 4* in thesleeve 4. A cup washer 18 is held by a nut 19 over the pin my invention is to so to prevent the latter from coming out. i

The arm 2 of the roller is pivotally held between the ends of the clamping sleeve 4: by means of a; shouldered pin 6. A spring7 has one end fastened to the pin 6 and the, other'end bears on the arm 2, tending to swing the roller about the pin 6 as a pivot.

A metal shell 8 of the shape shown in the drawings is provided, which fits in a circular recess in the engine casing 9 (see Figure 1). This shell bears a fiber disk 10 which has metal .inserts 11 to form station ary contacts. These contacts are spaced so as to be engaged by the roller 1 in the manner shown in Figure 1. The fiber disk 10 on that side facing the shell 8 is provided with a peripheral channel or groove 12 in which timer wires 13 are disposed. The contact members 11 arepreferably held in position by means of screws 14 which serve as binding posts forthe wires '13. such as that shown at 15 in Figure 1, are provided for holding the fiber disk to the shell. The shell is provided with an eye 16, by means of which the shell may be rotated about the central axis of the cam shaft. The shell has a central recess 17 which is designed to receive the lug on the spring (not shown) which is ordinarily used the stationary contacts successively. The

Screws,

so I

roller 1, travelling in substantially a vertical plane, causes any dirt, grease, etc., which may have accumulated on the stationary contacts,

to work off, thereby insuring a good contact and obviating the frequent danger of misfiring from these causes. The wires are not n any danger of being caught by the fan blades, and furthermore, they are removed from the dust, dirt and oil, usually found around the binding posts of the'ordinary commutator cap. The device is designed to be, applied to the Ford automobile engine, without any substantial change in the latter. I

Iclaim: r

A timer for internal combustion engines having a rotatable shaft, said timer comprising an oscillatory shell, an insulating disc carried by the shell, stationary contacts carried by said insulating disc a clamping sleeve securedto said shaft and having outwardly turned ends, an arm having one end extending between the outwardly turned ends, a shouldered pivot pin for pivot-ally securing said arm between said outwardly turned ends, a roller rotatably carried by 10 said arm, said roller being a section of a cone, and a spring secured at one end to said pivot pin and arranged to bear at its other end on the ivoted arm, whereby the roller is kept inc ose engagement with said sta- 15 tionary contacts.

JESSE EDWIN HIGBY. 

